The 43rd Hunger Games: The story of Willow Green
by BerS
Summary: One thousand eight hundred. That's how many children have been in the 75 Hunger Games total. Out of all of them, there has only been seventy-four victors. Most of the stories have never been told, most names forgotten. They have died at the Capitals hands, and we need to honor them. This may only be one out of hundreds of their stories, but it is sure to astound. Meet Willow Green.


The Axe Swing  
Everyone from my class surrounded me. They all looked as if they were preparing to pounce, to rip me to threads if I couldn't do this. Maybe I can't do it. So what if my Daddy is the best tree cutter in the district, does that mean I'm suppose to have magically inherited his skills? But everyone else already went, and the ones who couldn't do it were all ready being shunned. I looked down and wrapped my hands on the axe, they looked so small holding such a large tool. I thought of my Daddy's instructions, then I tried to mimic how he does Did it. I had committed the instructions to memory while preparing for this. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the crisp, cold air that tasted of Pine. Then I lifted the axe and held it to the tree to mark the spot. Slowly, I swung it back over my shoulder, then I let the breath out. I'm half the size of everyone else, and because of who my Daddy is, they gave me the largest tree, so I knew I had to hit it hard. Mustering all of my strength, I threw my body into the swing. The axe gave a sharp thunk that echoed throughout the forest. The I pulled the axe out of the tree and did the same movement, my Daddy was in my head making corrections. I could almost hear him say to me,"Lift your shoulder and shift the weight from your back foot completely to your front" along with all the other things he says to help me. To my surprise, I didn't have to pull the axe out again, it had gone all the way through the tree in the second swing. Everyone just stared at me in amazement, but I didn't care. I dropped my axe and pushed through the crowd to tell my Daddy what I did.  
5 years Later  
"Willa! Hurry up, you need to get ready" My Daddy called across the room, laughing at my mumbled reply. My name isn't really Willa, it's Willow, but I live in district seven, and trees can get old pretty fast. I came out into the kitchen to see what the rush was about, when I saw my mother sitting by the window. I was shocked! My mom has been mute her whole life and we could never communicate. I think it made her really sad, so she stayed in her room when ever I was home. She usually only came out during my birthday, Christmas, or the Reaping. Wait! The reaping! That's today. I threw my head back and groaned loudly. Daddy gave me a questioning look, when suddenly my mother got up and grabbed my hand. I was toO surprised to protest. She took me to her room where on her bed sat a head pin with jade gems that formed a leaf. She picked it up and put it into the palm of my hand, then closed my hand around it. Mom gave me a meaningful look then placed my other hand on her heart. It was her was of saying that she loved me. My eyes were suddenly watery and I pulled her into a hug, she seemed shocked at first, but then hugged me back. Then I wordlessly left her room and went into the bathroom. That was different, a gift from Mom was rare, but a hug from her was even rarer. I went to the mirror, and looked into it. Everyone in district seven was pale, the tall trees that were everywhere prevented sunlight from ever shinning through. Unlike everyone else, who had soft brown straight hair, I had completely black hair that had a lot of waves. It was the same color as my moms. I opened my hand and placed the pin into my hair. The jade in it was the exact shade of green as my eyes. My eyes looked exactly like my Daddy's eyes, which I loved. I threw on a white blouse and a green skirt, then walked to the reaping, in other words, I was walking to my possible death. How intense. But not really.  
The Reaping  
I was already familiar with the system of the reaping, so I breezed through it. I felt sympathetic for all the little kids, this would be some of their first times. They all looked completely lost. As I stood with the other Fifteen year olds, I looked at where my Daddy and my Mom were sitting in the crowd of people who didn't qualify for the Hunger Games. I've never watched them, the games, my Daddy just said that they would just give me nightmares. They both looked nervous, because I was fifteen my name was in the giant glass bowl to many times for comfort. A man walked on to the stage and announced that he would be this years escort for our district. He was very plump and was bald, I payed no attention to him because his voice just made me tired. I decided to zone out of his little speech and watch the trees. After this, I would go with my friends to practice throwing our axes. We tried to chop the trees from a distance, and some of us were actually pretty good at it. ( I was one of those people) Anyways, it was something to do during the time we weren't in class. Then I looked up and noticed that everyone was staring at me. I hadn't heard anything that the man had said, did he notice and call me out? How would he know that I wasn't listening? I glanced over at my parents, and I was completely shocked to she my mom screaming soundlessly. People were holding her back as she tried to run towards me. And she was crying like she was about to die, when suddenly she fell and started sobbing. What did I miss in a few minutes. My Daddy was staring and probably looked like how I did, confused. Then the crowd parted around me and a peace maker grabbed me. Why was he escorting me to the stage. Unlike me, Daddy must have finally understood what was happening because he ran towards me. He was so strong from cutting trees, no one could hold him back. Somehow, he managed to get all the way to me, and I was about to ask what had happen to make him do that when he tried to throw the peace maker off of me. Then the peacemaker pulled something out of his vest. Daddy screamed my name when there was a bang and he fell. Now I was sobbing and crying for my Daddy. For a second I got to him and hugged him, then I was pried off of him. I struggled towards him but then the peacemaker picked me up, and carried me to the stage. My eyes never left where Daddy was lying on the ground, I couldn't help but notice that he wasn't moving. I was set onto the stage when a boy was called up. Then it finally clicked, I was going into the Hunger Games.


End file.
